Story: Hush, Chapter Eight: The Dead (22 pages)
(previous part in Batman #614, next part in Batman #616)
Writer(s): Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Jim Lee
Inks: Scott Williams
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Selina Kyle / Catwoman,
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake / Robin III, Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Thomas Elliot (in flashback), Lucius Fox, Clarence, Edward Nigma / The Riddler, Joker, Harvey Dent / Two-Face
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
- Batman reveals to Catwoman that he is Bruce Wayne. [p. 21]
Continuity References:
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
Dick Grayson Character Details:
Romances:
Trivia:
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]
Story: Retribution Part 2: Contested (22 pages)
(previous part in Gotham Knights #20)
Writer(s): Devin Grayson
Pencils: Roger Robinson
Inks: John Floyd
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Yoska Graesinka
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Barbara Gordon / Oracle, Ra's al Ghul, Enrico Inzerillo (it seems to switch somewhat whether the last name is 'Inzerillo' like in this issue or 'Inzerillos' like in the last), Jack (Giacomo) Inzerillo (Enrico's son), Ubu (Ra's al Ghul's minion)
Synopsis:
Yoska thinks Dick stayed with Bruce to steal from him, that this is Dick's "secret," and says that Dick doesn't need the adoption, that he has another plan. After hearing that, Dick breaks into laughter. Jack visits Enrico in prison, he wants him to get the word out to his men to meet him in Blüdhaven to help him raise bail. Meanwhile Oracle did a background check and research on Yoska, who seems to have no reason to lie about being Dick's grandfather. Batman realizes that Yoska thinks he is telling the truth and has been deceived himself. Yoska and Dick are in Dick's apartment, they talk about Dick's life and his past. An assassin shoots at Yoska, but Dick throws Yoska down, and Batman overpowers the shooter on the rooftop. Dick asks Yoska by whom he was told about Dick, and it turns out that "the nice man" was Ra's al Ghul. Batman learns from the assassin, Ubu, one of Ra's al Ghul's minions, that the instructions were to miss Yoska, and that he won't cause further trouble. Batman lets Ubu go and, alerted by shots, catches up with Jack Inzerillo, who has led his father's men into a trap orchestrated by another crime organization and watched them be shot. Jack had hoped to get into the other organization, and thought that the plan was just to scare his father's men, but the guy from the other organization has played and manipulated Jack, who now regrets his part in the execution of three of his father's men. Batman takes in Jack and the guys from the other crime organization. Changing to his Bruce identity he then checks on Dick and Yoska, and offers Yoska to help tracking down his real family, but Yoska prefers to leave. Ubu returns to Ra's al Ghul, who has set up the whole thing with the adoption to teach Batman a lesson, of how even the deepest loyalties are vulnerable to manipulation. Ra's al Ghul acted out of revenge, because blames Batman for the rift between himself and his daughter Talia. In the end Bruce and Dick file the papers, finalizing the adoption process.
Important Continuity Events:
- Dick Grayson's adoption by Bruce Wayne becomes legal. [p. 22]
Continuity References:
- Dick tells Yoska briefly about his father's death ("He was murdered. A man wanted money, and he cut the trapeze guy wire to prove he meant business."). That event has been retold in multiple versions, for example in a flashback in Batman #436, in ?? [p.7]
- Ra's al Ghul told Yoska that Dick is a police officer, the key issues of the arc concerned with Dick's decision to join the police force are: Nightwing #25 (we first learn that Dick decided to change Blüdhaven by joining the PD), Nightwing #41 (he graduates the academy), and Nightwing #48 (he gets a job at the Blüdhaven PD). [p. 7]
- Bruce mentions the fissure between Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia, that happened in ?? [p. 20]
- Bruce refers to Dick's past relationships with Huntress (in ??) and Koriand'r (in ??), and also sums up parts of Koriand'r's biography, which we learn about in ?? [p. 22]
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- Dick says he doesn't know what half the Rom terms Yoska uses mean [p. 2], still he can translate the saying Yoska uses before he leaves (or is familiar enough with it to know the meaning when he hears it). [p. 18]
- Dick doesn't want Yoska call him Ryeka. [p. 2]
- Dick has known Bruce since Dick was eight. [p. 8]
- Dick says to Yoska that he has a god life and owes most of it to Bruce. [p. 8]
- Dick has a photo album that has at least one picture of his father. [p. 13]
- Dick doesn't keep his gun locked up. [p. 17]
- Dick enjoyed hearing Romany again. [p. 20]
- Dick always wondered about his father's side of the family. [p. 20]
- Dick says even if Yoska really had been a relative, it wouldn't have made any difference in his relationship with Bruce. [p. 21]
- Dick mentions being left in an orphanage was the alternative to being taken in by Bruce. [p. 21]
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
- Thinking that Dick had a living relative was enough to make Bruce doubt his right to Dick's loyalty. [p. 21]
- Either Bruce doesn't remember Koriand'r's name or he just prefers to describe her ("That persecuted alien warrioress who was literally chased here by extraterrestrial slavers?") to emphasize his point, that Dick is attracted to people in trouble. [p. 22]
Gotham City Details:
- One of Gotham's prisons is called "The Schreck." [p.4]
Trivia:
- Romany saying Dick knows how to translate is:
"Si khohaimo may patshivalo sar o tshatshimo." -- "There are lies more believable than truth." [p. 18]
Story: Matatoa, Part 2 (22 pages)
(previous part in Gotham Knights #16)
Writer(s): Devin Grayson
Pencils: Roger Robinson
Inks: John Floyd
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Barbara Gordon / Oracle, Matatoa
Synopsis:
Nightwing has brought Matatoa to Arkham, but he escapes. Meanwhile Dick reveals his relationship with Barbara to Batman. As they learn of Matatoa's escape Batman and Nightwing once again face him, this time on a LexCorp construction site. Nightwing arrives there first, saying that his own record isn't too bad, but Matatoa feels he has nothing to offer to Nightwing. Batman joins the fight, Matatoa offers again eternal protection for Gotham. As Matatoa dangles from a high crane he refuses to be pulled up by Batman, taking a fall that would have killed a normal human. Yet at the end he hitchhikes out of Gotham, now looking for a "master of manipulations," so it's possible his own death has fulfilled the "undefeated warrior" requirement, since, as Nightwing had pointed out to Matatoa earlier, until now Matatoa was undefeated himself. Back at the Batcave Dick asks Batman if he was tempted by the offer, but Batman replies that the only definition of "forever" that has any meaning lies in one's children, and offers adoption papers to Dick, who accepts and signs them.
Important Continuity Events:
- Dick tells Batman that he and Barbara are a couple. [p. 4]
- Bruce adopts Dick [p. 20f]
Continuity References:
- Dick mentions that it was Batman who sent him to Blüdhaven, in Nightwing #1. [p. 3]
- The argument between Dick and Batman about Dick's decision to become a cop refers to the following arc: we first learn that Dick decided to change Blüdhaven by joining the PD in Nightwing #25, he graduated the academy in Nightwing #41, and gets a job at the Blüdhaven PD in Nightwing #48. [p. 3]
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- Dick is not sure what to call Barbara in front of Batman (he switches from Babs, to Barbara, then Oracle). [p. 4]
- He's fumbling for the right words as he tells Batman about his and Barbara's relationship. ("Me and Babs -- I mean, uh, Barbara -- Oracle -- and I, well...things have...progressed in our relationship to the point where -- that is, I think it's fair to say that we're...involved. Dating. A couple." then low: "...okay?") [p. 4]
- Dick is now more often in Gotham because of his relationship with Barbara. [p.4]
- Nightwing feels protective towards Batman in his fight with Matatoa [p. 12ff], partly because he wonders how much Matatoa's offer of eternal protection for Gotham really got to Batman. [p. 18]
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
- Batman doesn't want Dick's police-issue gun in the Batcave. [p. 3]
- Batman's reaction to Dick's halting relationship revelation is a curt "Noted." When Dick is angry about that reply, expecting Batman to be happier he counters with "Who says I'm not?" and turns back to business.
- Batman thinks the way Matatoa preserves skills and knowledge is perverted, and says to Dick as Batman hands him the adoption papers, that the only meaningful definition of "forever" and real legacy is to pass these things on to the own children. [p. 19]
- During the scene with the adoption papers Batman stays in full costume, until Dick pushes off Batman's cowl to at least reveal Bruce's face. [p. 20]
Barbara Gordon Character Details:
- Barbara calls Dick "Former Boy Wonder." [p. 18]
Romances:
- Dick and Barbara are a couple, Dick reveals their relationship to Batman. [p. 4]
Gotham City Details:
- The graffito on the "You Are Now Leaving Gotham City -- Come Back Soon!" billboard says "KEEP DRIVING" over the "Come Back Soon!"
Trivia:
- Batman ties Matatoa's crimes to news paper articles we see from behind the screen (like mirror writing). They are "The UK Mirror Online", "The Jakata Times", "The New Zealand Chronicle" ,"The Gotham Sun" and a Russian paper from Moscow with Cyrillic writing. [p. 2]
- The text of the adoption papers is:
The day of the Lord, this 16th day of May in the year 2001:
I, Bruce Wayne, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare Richard John Grayson as my legal and lawful son and heir. This declaration is made with the full knowledge and consent of said ward, Richard John Grayson.
Bruce Wayne (Signature of adoptive parent)
Richard Grayson (Signature of consenting non-minor, or minor)
As witnessed by:
Alfred Pennyworth (Signature of primary witness)
Dr. Leslie Thompkins (Signature of secondary witness)
[Official Seal - City of Gotham]
Rachel Green, LLM (Legal Representation)
Judge Maria Vargas (Judge's signature)
Manuel Gonzalez (District Clerk)
Story: Officer Down, Part Seven: The End (22 pages)
(previous part in Detective Comics #754)
Writer(s): Greg Rucka
Pencils: Rick Burchett
Inks: Rodney Ramos
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, James Gordon, Lt. Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Chief Michael Akins (appointed Commissioner), Captain Mackenzie "Hardback" Bock (appointed Chief of Police), Stacy, Crispus Allen, Andy Kasinsky, Eric Cohen, Dagmar Procjnow, Joely Bartlett, Jordan Reynolds
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
- James Gordon retires. [p. 7]
Continuity References:
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
James Gordon Character Details:
Trivia:
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]
Story: Officer Down, Part Five: Inculpatory (22 pages)
(previous part in Catwoman #90, next part in Detective Comics #754)
Writer(s): Devin Grayson
Pencils: Rick Burchett
Inks: Rodney Ramos
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Barbara Gordon / Oracle, Bruce Wayne / Batman, Alfred Pennyworth,
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
James Gordon, Lt. Harvey Bullock, Officer Rich (really Jordan Reynolds, in flashback), Officer Lowell (Rich's partner, in flashback), Lucky Hand Triad (in flashback)
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
- Alfred Pennyworth leaves Batman / Bruce Wayne's employ. [p. 17]
Continuity References:
Dick Grayson Character Details:
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
Barbara Gordon Character Details:
Alfred Pennyworth Character Details:
Romances:
Trivia:
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]
Story: Officer Down, Part One: These Are Your Rights (22 pages)
(continued with an interlude in Batgirl #12, next part in Robin #86)
Writer(s): Greg Rucka
Pencils: Rick Burchett
Inks: Rodney Ramos
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, James Gordon
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Lt. Harvey Bullock, Stacy, Eric Cohen, Andy Kasinsky, Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen, Tommy Burke, Dagmar Procjnow, Vincent Del Arrazzio, Joely Bartlett, Officer Rich (really Jordan Reynolds), Officer Lowell (Rich's partner), Stanley (criminal), Steve (GCPD cop), Vanessa (GCPD cop)
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
- Commissioner James Gordon is shot. [p. 21]
Continuity References:
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
James Gordon Character Details:
Trivia:
- The M.C. U. celebrates at a pub called "Kelly's Plough," off Moench. [p. 2]
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]
Story: Fear Takes Flight (22 pages)
(continued from Nightwing #10)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Dudley Soames
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, Roland Desmond / Blockbuster II, Bridget Clancy, Chief Redhorn, Harvey Dent / Two-Face (in flashback), Mrs. Desmond (Blockbuster's mother), Tico, Buzz, Tomas, Nathaniel (Blockbuster's henchmen)
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
- Blockbuster twists Soames' neck, but Soames survives (this will eventually lead to Soames' "Torque" identity.) [p. 21]
Continuity References:
Dick Grayson Character Details:
Trivia:
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]
Story: The Bigger They Are (22 pages)
(continued from Nightwing #7)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Roland Desmond / Blockbuster II
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Dudley Soames, The Loners (biker gang), Tad Ryerstad (name not known yet)
Synopsis:
Nightwing fights Blockbuster, who is slow, but really strong. Nightwing evades Blockbuster's punches, who demolishes the whole building. Soames just watches. Blockbuster is especially enraged because he thinks Batman sent Nightwing to claim Blüdhaven for him, like a "prince regent assigned to rule an outlaw province." Nightwing taunts Blockbuster, says that Blüdhaven is only a second-rate town. Nightwing uses a 30 kV tazer on Blockbuster, expecting that to take him out, but it doesn't work. Blockbuster manages to get his hand on Nightwing's neck, but doesn't snap it instantly, but rather squeezes it. Nightwing passes out, and right before loosing consciousness he hears Batman's voice sending him to Blüdhaven. Just as Blockbuster gets ready to snap Nightwing's neck, Soames steps in, pointing a gun at Blockbuster. Soames points out that killing Nightwing by twisting his neck will draw Batman's attention to Blüdhaven, and they are not ready for that kind of heat. To lead Batman away from his operation, Blockbuster decides that Nightwing has to die in an inconspicuous way. So he hires the biker gang "The Loners" to do it. Nightwing wakes up surrounded by the gang on their bikes, but he manages to fight them all and win. As Dick walks home, hurting all over, he meets a homeless man, who asks Dick for some money. He gives him fifty bucks, and says if he shows up in the morning, cleaned up and sober, he'll see about really helping him. The man promises to show up, however he runs into a wannabee vigilante (later known to be Tad Ryerstad), who beats him up severely, and says that he never wants to see him again on "his" block again. Meanwhile the biker gang comes back to Blockbuster to tell him that "it didn't work out." Blockbuster rips out the support beams in the building where they meet (some sort of warehouse), and lets the whole structure collapse on them. Blockbuster himself walks away from the ruins, to Soames, who's waiting outside with the car. Blockbuster tells Soames to take care of Nightwing, and to get someone more talented this time.
Important Continuity Events:
- Tad Ryerstad's first appearance as a wannabee vigilante. [p. 18]
Continuity References:
- Blockbuster had his intelligence increased in ?? [p. 5]
- What Nightwing hears Batman say in his head before he passes out, i.e.the twenty-one dead mobmen and that Batman sends Nightwing to Blüdhaven, refers to the events in Nightwing #1.
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- The fear of failing or disappointing Batman is still foremost on Dick's mind. [p. 8]
Blockbuster Character Details:
- He calls Batman "The Bat" like the street criminals in Gotham do. [p. 4]
- He amped his I.Q. to supergenius. [p. 5]
- Blüdhaven is only the infancy of his ambitions. [p. 6] He wants Gotham, Star City, Metropolis and New York City too. [p. 7]
- A 30 kV tazer doesn't affect him much. [p. 7]
Trivia:
- Blockbuster has a custom made car that is larger in the rear passenger section. [p. 22]
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
Story: Rough Justice (22 Pages)
(continued in Nightwing #8)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Barbara Gordon / Oracle, Wally West / Flash III, John Grayson (Dick's father, in a flashback), Mary Grayson (Dick's mother, in a flashback), Ricky Noone, Sulieman Thomas Ali, Timothy "Lunchmeat" Deever, Turk Fremunda, Dudley Soames, Roland Desmond / Blockbuster II, Chief Redhorn, Antonio "Angel" Marin (or his body anyway), Bridget Clancy, Hank Hogan (first name not known yet)
Synopsis:
Nightwing is fed up with being one step behind the criminals and mobs, playing catch-up. He recalls a lesson his father taught him about the importance of strategy, so now he systematically captures all the mob criminals he knows of. He starts with Ricky Noone and his enforcers, who work for Marin's loansharks, then Sulieman Thomas Ali, who runs the meth and crack labs and street trade, then Timmy "Lunchmeat" Deever and his "removal" experts, and finally Turk Fremunda and the unions. Nightwing brings them all to a refrigerated warehouse, and hangs them onto meat hooks. He starts to interrogate them, starting with Turk Fremunda. But Fremunda refuses to tell Nightwing both where Marin is as well as who's running Blüdhaven. Fremunda says nobody cares who the capo is, as long as everything runs smoothly. When Nightwing gets ready to leave (or at least pretends to do so), threatening to leave them to die of hypothermia, Fremunda tells Nightwing that the new boss has positioned guards at St. Antony's nursing home. Nightwing checks out the nursing home, and it turns out the lead is solid. He's now back to detective work again. Meanwhile the BPD bomb squad checks out a barrel that was addressed to Chief Redhorn. The barrel isn't a bomb, but contains Angel Marin's body, preserved in formaldehyde to obscure the true time of death. Marin's head is twisted backwards. Chief Redhorn is getting angrier with Soames, both because of the mob war and because of Nightwing. He wants the status quo back. Soames says he's working on it, but of course he's in truth working for Blockbuster. During Dick's shift at Hogan's Alley some cops talk about Marin's body. With Oracle's help he finds out that Blockbuster's mother, Joyce Elizabeth Desmond, is a resident of St. Anthony's. Dick recognizes the name and calls Wally, i.e. The Flash, for an update on Desmond. Wally hasn't run into him, but Impulse has, and he's more dangerous than he was before. Blockbuster and Soames look out over Blüdhaven from Blockbuster's villa. Soames thinks it wasn't a good idea to dump Marin's body, that now there'll be more heat from Chief Redhorn, because the deaths can't be explained anymore as Marin cleaning up his own organization. Blockbuster says that it is Soames job to keep police interests distracted. Soames might have higher ambitions, he refers to Blüdhaven as "ours" when talking to Blockbuster, and Blockbuster isn't happy about that "greed." Soames explains it as a slip of the tongue. Soames also worries about Nightwing, but Blockbuster thinks Nightwing is a mere shadow of his mentor Batman, a charlatan who can be occupied with lowlifes and streethoods. Nightwing takes that as his cue to make his presence known, and confronts Roland Desmond, aka Blockbuster. Nightwing says he almost decided Soames was Blüdhaven's new crimelord, had it not been for Desmond's mother and the gunmen assigned to guard her.
Important Continuity Events:
- Blockbuster is seen openly as the hidden power in Blüdhaven for the first time. [p. 22]
Continuity References:
- Nightwing thinks that he almost got Robin killed, that refers to events in Nightwing #6. [p. 2]
- Sulieman Thomas Ali was last seen in Nightwing #3, he was also mentioned by Marin in Nightwing #5. [p. 3]
- Turk Fremunda was mentioned by Marin in Nightwing #5, but he's seen here for the first time. [p. 5]
- The anxiety dream is the same as in Nightwing #4. [p. 14]
- Dick recognizes Desmond's name, their last encounter was in ??. [p. 16]
- Wally mentions that Impulse encountered Blockbuster, that was in ??. [p. 18]
- The "now" and "before" when Wally talks about Blockbuster might refer to the events (which were ??) that increased his intelligence in ??. [p. 18]
- Blockbuster met Batman before in ?? [p. 19]
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- Dick's father told him about the importance of strategy when he taught him to be a trapeze artist. [p. 2]
- Dick's mom called him "little Robin" [p. 6]
- Dick wonders if he might be responsible for Angel Marin getting killed, because he shakes things up in Blüdhaven. It might have happened anyway, but Dick thinks that kind of justification is a slippery slope. [p. 12, 13]
- Dick is still plagued by the recurring anxiety dream about the falling boy he can't reach, who's shouting something he can't hear. [p. 14]
- According to Oracle Dick snores, she says she can hear it through their computer connection. [p.14]
- Oracle calls Dick "Bucko" [p. 14]
- Dick sleeps in his boxers. [p. 14]
- Dick is reluctant to ask Batman for help, even for research and information gathering help. He's more comfortable asking Oracle, though the task wouldn't necessarily require her level of expertise. [p. 15]
- Dick recognizes Desmond's name. [p. 16]
- Dick hasn't met Impulse, he doesn't know his name. [p. 18]
- Dick agrees that he's no Batman, but he tells Blockbuster and Soames that he's close enough to shut them down. [p. 21]
Barbara Gordon Character Details:
- Oracle can hear sounds, like snoring, in Dick's bedroom. [p. 14]
- Oracle has access to Medicare, Medicaid, social security and private insurance files. [p. 16]
Bridget Clancy Character Details:
- Clancy was born in Hong Kong, but was adopted by an Irish family and left Hong Kong as a baby. She came to America to go to college and never went back. [p. 13]
Blockbuster Character Details:
- His mother's name is Joyce Elizabeth Desmond. She's in the St. Anthony's nursing home, guarded my three mob gunmen. [p. 16]
- He had a run in with Impulse. [p. 18]
- There are no mirrors in his house, he also keeps it dark. [p. 20]
- He once was a petty felon. [p. 21]
- Compared to Nightwing he's really huge. [p. 22]
Romances:
- Dick and Clancy are flirting. [p. 13]
Blüdhaven Details:
- The St. Anthony's nursing home is in the Caernarvon section. It's know as St. Ant's to the locals. [p. 8]
- Blüdhaven is an Archdiocese. [p. 15]
Trivia:
- There's a DC Logo on one of the letters in Dick's mail. [p. 13]
- According to Oracle Batman got half a dozen Crays in his basement. [p. 15]
- St. Anthony's records are still on paper. [p. 15]
- Dick has a coffee mug with the Bat-Logo. [p. 18]
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
Story: Lady Be Deadly (22 pages)
(continued in Nightwing #5)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Dudley Soames
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Biff Tooly (one of Angel Marin's gang), Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton / Lady Vic (real name not revealed yet), Maxwell Reed (Marin's consigliore), Bivens (Lady Vic's servant), Bridget Clancy (her first name isn't known yet), Hank Hogan (owner of Hogan's Alley; first name not known yet), Roland Desmond / Blockbuster II (his identity isn't revealed yet, we just see his shadow), Phillip (one of the cops working for Soames), Marcus (one of Reed's bodyguards), Sandy (one of Reed's bodyguards), Maxine Reed (Reed's daughter), Angel Marin
Synopsis:
Lady Vic has beaten up at least seven men to get to question Tooly, one of Angel Marin's gang. She asks him where she might find Angel Marin. Marin owes her a "considerable sum of money" and she now wants to collect. Tooly say nobody has seen Marin in weeks, but finally he tells Lady Vic that Marin's consigliore, Maxwell Reed, might be able to tell her where he is. Meanwhile Soames gives out Maxwell Reed's name to Nightwing, in answer to the same question. Nightwing doesn't think Black Mask is the source for the shifting power balance between Blüdhaven's gangs. Nightwing thinks it's homegrown. Soames gives the appearance of not caring one way or the other, as long as the gangs just kill each other. Dick gets a day job as a bartender at the cop bar Hogan's Alley, trying to find his own information sources in order not to rely on Soames so much. Reynard and his men corner Soames, because each time they ran into Nightwing, they were working based on tips from Soames. Soames has been giving information to both Black Mask and Nightwing, playing them against each other because he works for Blüdhaven's true power, and Reynard and his men are going to return to Gotham as a message to Black Mask. A huge shadow falls over them, and they end up dead in the alley with twisted necks. Oracle gives Nightwing a list of Marin's known associates from the FBI's database, all but Tooly and Reed are dead. Nightwing finds a terrified Tooly, who still hasn't recovered from Lady Vic's attack last night. Tooly tells Nightwing that Reed has a yacht. Tooly is under surveillance of the Blüdhaven PD, who listen in on that conversation and alert Soames, who keeps that tape. On Reed's yacht Nightwing evades Reed's bodyguards and slips into Reed's bedroom unnoticed, but Reed bites the hand Nightwing put over his mouth, and alerts the guards. As Nightwing fights with Reed's guards, Lady Vic appears, holding Reed's daughter hostage. She kills two of Reed's guards. Nightwing thinks that maybe Angel Marin is cleaning out his own mob, laughing at them. Elsewhere Angel Marin is sitting in a cell, he is interrogated through an intercom, most likely by the new mob boss, the "true power" in Blüdhaven, but the interrogator remains hidden. Marin is asked for the details of his organization, and reveals payoffs, kickbacks, suppliers, accounts, legit and not-so-legit receipts. Marin writes everything down, and is taped at the same time. The interrogator says that he needs to know more, that Marin will only live as long as he is of use.
Important Continuity Events:
- Dick gets a day job at the cop bar Hogan's Alley as a bartender. [p. 11]
- It's revealed that Soames works for the true power in Blüdhaven (i. e. Blockbuster, but his name is not given yet). [p. 12]
Continuity References:
- Dick mentions the twenty-one dead Angel Marin gang members found in Gotham's harbor, that brought him to Blüdhaven in Nightwing #1. [p. 4]
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- Though Dick suspects that Soames knows far more than he's telling, he can't touch him -- according to the "rulebook" -- because Soames is still a legitimate lawman. [p. 6]
- Dick has a recurring nightmare, an anxiety dream: He's Robin again, a small boy is falling down and shouts something to Dick that Dick can't understand because of the rush of the air, and though he gets closer to the boy, he can't reach him in time. [p. 8] Dick thinks the reason this dream is reappearing now is because he relies on Soames too much, that he has to make it on his own instead. [p. 9]
- There is something disgusting, probably moldy (?) in Dick's fridge. [p. 9]
- Dick has never tended bar before. [p. 10]
- Asked whether he drinks, Dick says "never." [p. 11]
- The reason Dick gives for wanting to work in a cop bar is that he's an "aspiring writer" who wants to listen to good stories, but it's not clear whether that is only a cover story. [p. 11] His main objective is to get more information about Blüdhaven, independently from Soames. [p. 12]
- Dicks first thought after getting his day job is that he can't wait to see Bruce's face when he hears of this. [p. 11]
- Nightwing takes Tooly's guns with him (probably to destroy them and not to "turn them in for a new pair of sneakers" like he says to Tooly, though). [p. 14]
Barbara Gordon Character Details:
- Oracle has access to the FBI's database. [p. 13]
Trivia:
- Dick notes that Gotham is different from Blüdhaven, that while in Gotham new ganglords like to announce their presence, they like their secrets in Blüdhaven. [p. 6]
- The shampoo brand Clancy's using is called "Perky Plus." [p. 10]
- The sign of the "Hogan's Alley" bar shows a shot-through, human target practice silhouette. [p. 10]
- Maxwell Reed's yacht is called "Quid Pro Quo." [p. 14]
- Angel Marin went to the St. Anscom's school for boys. [p. 22]
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
Story: The Freebooters (22 pages)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Tim Drake / Robin III, Bridget Clancy (we learn her last name, the first name is not given yet), Reynard, Sgt. A. Capone (a police officer), Sulieman Thomas Ali, Pescado (one of Reynard's men), Doc (one of Reynard's men), Mitch (Reynard's helicopter pilot)
Synopsis:
Nightwing moves into his new apartment, dealing for the first time with mundane concerns, like utility bills, on his own. He's cleaning his apartment and musing about his life, when he has to prevent a mugging right under his window. He realizes that Blüdhaven needs a protector. He e-mails Soames and they meet again. Nightwing suspects that Soames is playing both sides, and not sharing everything he knows. Nightwing knows that somebody is running Blüdhaven in the vacuum left by the Angel Marin gang, but it's not Black Mask (though he also wants to take over Blüdhaven's mobs) and it's not Freddy Minh, but Nightwing doesn't know who it is. He thinks Soames knows, though. But Soames only tells him that Blüdhaven's underworld is going through a sea change and that Black Mask and his gang from Gotham aren't helping matters. Soames gives Nightwing the tip to check out "Ali's Bank in the Zee Moores" because Black Mask has a new score planned there. Nightwing figures out that this refers to one of the places which cash checks in the "Zee Moores," a Blüdhaven slum. Nightwing watches the container and concludes that the place has to be crooked, because he doesn't see a single elderly person or "welfare mom" all day but only young guys who come in with paper bags and leave without them. Nightwing is interrogating the owner, Sulieman Thomas Ali, when a helicopter flies over them, lowers a magnet onto the container, and lifts the whole thing off ground. Nightwing throws Ali out of the container shortly after it has been lifted and then stays to fight Reynard and his men, who rappeled themselves down into the container. The helicopter has problems holding the container because of the weight and the windshear, and is forced to drop it. It collides with the edge of one of the highrise buildings. Reynard and his men manage to jump onto the roof top in time, but Nightwing has to jump off the container as it already tumbles down. When the container crashes, the crack money, that was stored in the container, rains down on the poor neighborhood. Nightwing gets back on the rooftop in time to catch Reynard and his men, and gives Reynard a message for Black Mask, that Black Mask should stay out of Blüdhaven. Later Nightwing checks in with Batman and Robin, reporting slow progress on the twenty-one dead, that the real power in Blüdhaven is well concealed, and that the police is corrupt. Batman offers to be there in a half hour, but Nightwing says he can handle Blüdhaven.
Important Continuity Events:
Nightwing moves into his new apartment in Blüdhaven. [p. 4]
Continuity References:
- Dick mentions that Batman sent him to Blüdhaven to find out who killed twenty-one of Angel Marin's gang, that happened in Nightwing #1. [p. 1]
- He mentions his former girlfriend Koriand'r (Kory), they were together from ?? to ?? [p. 5]
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- Dick feels he's letting down both Batman and the twenty-one dead Angel Marin gang members, because so far he hasn't solved the crime [p. 1]; he thinks that this ties him still to Gotham and to Bruce, though he was looking to get a new start. [p. 2]
- Dick encounters problems with the utilities companies because he has no credit history and needs to pay cash advances. [p. 4]
- It is like Dick Grayson doesn't really exist, Dick feels he hardly knows him. [p. 5]
- For years Alfred or Kory have handled the mundane details (like utility and phone bills) for him, and he had to rely on a line of credit paid for by Bruce. [p. 5]
- Dick thinks Gotham will always be Batman's town, never his own turf, and this new start on his own in Blüdhaven might be what he needs [p. 5]; and Blüdhaven deserves -- or at least needs -- a protector. [p. 6]
- Nightwing has the sudden vanishing when he meets with police officers down pat, just like Batman. [p. 8]
- Nightwing takes his victories where he finds them, even if they're just temporary. [p. 20]
- It's important to him to handle Blüdhaven on his own, and he likes the challenge of a town hopelessly lost to corruption, injustice and violence. [p. 22]
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
- Batman calls Nightwing "Dick", even even though Nightwing is in costume and their conversation centers on superhero things. [p. 22]
Romances:
- Dick is still interested in the superintendent of his building, but so far hasn't even managed to get a look at her face despite his curiosity. [p. 3]
Blüdhaven Details:
- The Zee Mores are hundreds of acres of highrise slums built in the name of the philanthropist Zeephram Moore who oversaw their construction as a "haven for the city's poor." Now they are "fortresses for the vicelords." [p. 9]
Trivia:
- The superintendent's last name is Clancy, and she prefers to be called just "Clancy" not "Ms. Clancy". [p. 3]
- There's a "Sgt. A. Capone" in the Blüdhaven PD. [p. 6]
- Soames calls Nightwing "lad". [p. 7]
- There are no banks in the Zee Moores only containers cashing checks for a percentage. [p. 9]
- Surprisingly there are what looks like rooftop gargoyles on (at least one of) the utilitarian highrise buildings in the Zee Moores. [p. 20]
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
Story: Child of Justice (22 pages)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Scott McDaniel
Inks: Karl Story
Characters:
Dick Grayson / Nightwing
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Mortimer Gunt (works at the Gotham morgue; only mentioned), Tandy, Freddy Minh ('alleged' vice lord of the Asian mobs; off-screen), Mrs. Minh (Freddy Minh's wife), Black Mask and his "False Facers" gang, Reynard (member of Black Mask's gang), Chief Redhorn (the Blüdhaven Police Chief), Inspector Dudley Soames
Synopsis:
Due to a summer drought the estuary backs up and twenty-one dead members of the Angel Marin gang float upstream from Blüdhaven to Gotham. Their necks were broken. Batman sends Nightwing to Blüdhaven to investigate their deaths. Nightwing looks at possible suspects who would profit from taking out the Angel Marin gang and starts with Freddy Minh. As he arrives at Minh's house, Freddy Minh is attacked by Black Mask's gang, who move a fridge while Minh's wife wails "My babies!" Nightwing pursues Black Mask's men, thinking there are kids locked up in the fridge. It turns out the "kids" are frozen, fertilized eggs, and in the moment Nightwing digests his surprise one of the thugs, Reynard, knocks him unconscious, and chains him to the fridge. Black Mask's men are after the eggs to gain leverage over Minh, so that Minh would let their gang have a piece of the heroin trade in Blüdhaven. Nightwing manages to kick the transport case with the eggs out of Reynard's hand and grabs it, but is thrown into the bay, still chained to the fridge, in danger of suffocation. He barely manages to burn through the fridge handle with a magnesium flare in time, but the masked gang members are gone. Black Mask is not happy with Reynard's work, he wants Blüdhaven. Chief Redhorn wants Dudley Soames to get rid of Nightwing, so that there won't be a costumed vigilante interfering with his corrupt PD. As Nightwing shows up to give the Minh eggs to Redhorn, he is cuffed but not for arrest and held at gunpoint by Soames.
Important Continuity Events:
- Batman sends Nightwing to Blüdhaven to investigate the death of twenty-one members of the Angel Marin gang, whose bodies have been floated into Gotham with broken necks. [p. 3]
- Nightwing decides to stay in Blüdhaven. [p. 20]
- The corruption in the Blüdhaven PD from its top officials downward is established. [p. 21]
Dick Grayson Character Details:
- Dick's initial motivation to go to Blüdhaven is to prevent the new new gang that's taking out the Angel Marin gang, to Gotham, because Batman is busy, and Tim not yet fit to handle a town like Blüdhaven on his own. [p. 5, 7]
Blüdhaven Details:
- Blüdhaven is only a short ride South down the coast from Gotham, both cities lie on the same stream. [p. 4, 5]
- Blüdhaven started as a whaling town, then became "Asbestos Town, USA", but now it declined and is worse than Gotham. [p. 4, 7]
- Freddy Minh lives on Avalon Hill in Blüdhaven. [p. 8]
Gotham City Details:
- Gotham has an annual summer drought. [p. 5]
Trivia:
- Nightwing's braid is cut-off. [p. 14]
- Nightwing has magnesium flares stashed in his costume's gauntlet. [p. 19]
- The thug in Black Mask's gang wearing a Fox mask is called "Reynard" (for the name of the fox in French fables) [p. 20]. Nightwing dubs him "Foxy". [p. 17]
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
Story: Oracle -- Year One: Born of Hope (18 pages)
Writer(s): John Ostrander and Kim Yale
Artist(s): Brian Stelfreeze and Karl Story
Characters:
Barbara Gordon / Oracle (in flashback also as Batgirl), James Gordon, Ashley Mavis Powell / Interface
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Bruce Wayne / Batman (also as his alter ego Matches), Joker, Riddler, Sylvia Kandry, Richard Dragon
Synopsis:
This story begins ten weeks and three days after the Joker shot Barbara in The Killing Joke. Barbara is still in the hospital, thinking that she was an idiot to be so careless to open the door without even looking through the peephole or putting the chain on, that she should have known better. She also has nightmares about the incident. The night before she's going to be released Batman visits her, and she is angry at him. She feels humiliated because she didn't have any significance as herself to the Joker, but only as a way to get to Batman. She lashes out at Batman, asking whether the private joke was her, when Batman and the Joker stood together laughing during the Joker's capture, hoping to hurt Batman that way. When she is released there are lots of reporters, watching her struggle to get into the car, but once again she feels only as an extension of someone else, this time of her father. She thinks the reporters wouldn't have bothered if not for her being the commissioner's daughter and thus a symbol. Six months of physical and emotional therapy follow, during which she had to accept that she would never walk again. Then for weeks Barbara just sits in her father's apartment, afraid to go out, afraid of the next day, feeling that she means nothing, that her life is now over, but then she resolves not to be a victim any longer. With a grant of the Wayne Foundation she gets a powerful computer set-up. She discovers her affinity for computer hacking and starts to make some money. The fledgling internet community also provides her with emotional support and acceptance during that time. One day her father, James Gordon, tells her about a case, a woman who launders money with the help of computers, Ashley Mavis Powell, also known as Interface. Gordon is out of his depth because he lacks the computer knowledge. Barbara researches Interface on her own. She gets information on Interface from Sylvia Kandry, a police computer operator out of NYC. Interface uses a low-level metahuman talent to interact directly with computers, she's also a child abuser. Barbara starts to go after Interface, but she doesn't protect her identity sufficiently yet. As Barbara tries to cross a busy street Interface pushes her into the traffic, but Barbara isn't run over. Barbara decides that Interface just made the biggest mistake of her life, because she made Barbara feel like a victim again. Barbara wants to start learning self-defense from a wheelchair, but doesn't want to ask her father or Batman for options. She asks around on-line, and gets contact information from someone named "Matches" one of Batman's alter-egos (which Barbara doesn't know then). She meets with Richard Dragon, who asks her what she wants. First she says she doesn't want to be afraid anymore, to which he replies that fear is useful, then she says that she wants to walk again, he says that's not really what she's seeking, then she says she wants her life back, and to that Richard Dragon says that that is who she were, not who she is now. He asks "Who are you?" and Barbara says "I...I don't know. I don't know if I ever knew..." and he says now she's ready to begin. He teaches her escrima during the next months. The physical and mental discipline hones the questions of her identity until the answer comes to Barbara in a dream. In that dream she's dressed as Batgirl and is at Delphi, asking the Oracle "I've lost so much. I've lost everything I thought I was. Who am I now? How do I go on?" The Oracle replies "You have lost nothing that matters. You have everything you need. Everything before leads up to now and now leads to what shall be." Barbara says she doesn't understand, the Oracle replies that she will when they both remove their masks. The woman who is the Oracle removes her mask (which looks like the later Oracle logo) and it is revealed that she is also Barbara. That makes Barbara realize that the internet could function as a mask as surely as any cowl, and she assumes the identity of Oracle, ready to take on her first task, i.e. dealing with Interface. Three weeks later her preparations are finished. She lures Interface into a logic trap, exploiting that Powell is psi-linked with the computer. Eventually Oracle cuts her loose, but tells her that she planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in Interface's mind and that she could trigger it again anytime, and that she will unless Interface turns herself in. In the end Barbara feels that her life is finally her own, that she is no longer a distaff impersonation of someone else.
Important Continuity Events:
- Barbara Gordon becomes Oracle. [p. 14]
Continuity References:
- The encounter with the Riddler in the flashback took place in ??. [p. 2]
- The Joker shot Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke. [p. 2]
- The time Joker and Batman stood together laughing, that Barbara mentions, was in The Killing Joke. [p. 3]
- Batman's connection to or knowledge of Richard Dragon refers to previous events in ?? [p. 12]
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
- Batman knows Richard Dragon. [p. 12]
Barbara Gordon Character Details:
- James Gordon is Barbara's adoptive father. [p. 2]
- She's lived in Gotham most of her life. [p. 2]
- She ran one of the largest libraries on the east coast. [p. 2]
- Barbara doesn't remember much after the shot and the initial pain, she's not sure what happened. That hints at the fact that she was found naked and the Joker took pictures of her to torture her father. [p.2]
- Barbara feels it is humiliating and demeaning that she didn't have any intrinsic value for the Joker, but that her life only counted in relation to Batman. She thinks that it was similar in her role as Batgirl, that she was only seen as a weaker version of Batman [p. 3], she feels similar when the reporters cover her release from the hospital, that they're not interested in her as herself, but only because she's James Gordon's daughter. [p. 6]
- Her initial physical therapy after being shot took six months, during which she accepts that she'll never walk again. [p. 6]
- The money for her first computer equipment comes from a Wayne Foundation grant, later Barbara starts to use her hacking skills to make money. [p. 7]
- Barbara doesn't know that Batman uses the alias "Matches" [p. 12]
- Barbara learns escrima from Richard Dragon for several months [p. 13], before that she feels conspicuous and clumsy in her body, no longer loving how it moves as she did before, when she was a gymnast and a dancer. [p. 10]
- Barbara conceives her identity as Oracle first in a dream, where she sees herself as the Delphi Oracle. [p. 14]
James Gordon Character Details:
- James Gordon refused to have police guarding their house like other police commissioners in big cities, because the symbol of an open administration was important to him. [p. 6]
- James Gordon hates computers. [p. 9]
Gotham City Details:
- Barbara meets with Richard Dragon in Robinson Park. Robinson Park has a Centograph. [p. 12]
Trivia:
- Barbara has her Batgirl doll with her in the hospital, although the way it looks here it could be just as well a Batman doll. [p. 1]
- The Joker used a .45 to shoot Barbara but with a doctored bullet, with only half the grains of a normal .45, because the Joker wanted her alive for his scheme. [p. 3]
- We see Barbara with a coffee mug saying "#1 DAD" propably her dad's. [p. 9]
- Both in her dream [p. 14] and in the final panel [p. 18] white birds surround her, like bats often surround Batman in these kinds of scenes.
- Unlike her later wheelchair, here Barbara's wheelchair is still a regular chair throughout, seemingly without gadgets, but with handles for other people pushing her.
Story: The Killing Joke (48 pages)
Writer(s): Alan Moore
Pencils: Brian Bolland
Inks: Brian Bolland
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Joker (also as Red Hood in a flashback), James Gordon, Barbara Gordon / Batgirl
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Harvey Dent / Two-Face, Jeannie (the Joker's wife), Alfred Pennyworth, Colleen Reece, Harvey Bullock, Oswald Cobblepot / Penguin
Synopsis:
It's a rainy night. Batman meets James Gordon in front of the Arkham Asylum. Batman is there to visit the Joker, Gordon waits outside the cell. Batman wants to talk to the Joker to break their vicious cycle of mutual obsession, that he thinks will lead one of them to kill the other in the end, and he doesn't want Joker's murder on his hands. The Joker sits there silently playing solitaire, Batman grabs the Joker's hand and notices that the white skin is not genuine but make-up. It turns out the Joker has escaped Arkham Asylum once again. The Joker is at an abandoned carnival ground, which he prepares as the scene for his next crime. He wants to prove that anyone will go insane under the right circumstances, that he is not different from the rest. To illustrate this, he tries to drive James Gordon insane. He shoots James Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon, causing her permanent paraplegia, assaults her sexually (at least he removes her clothes), and takes photographs of her. He has James Gordon beaten up, then kidnaps him and brings him to the carnival to torture him. There the Joker puts Gordon in a bizarre scenario to drive him mad. Gordon's clothes are removed, a collar is put around his neck, and he's tortured with a tazer by two weirdly dressed midgets. In a ghost train ride he's shown the pictures of Barbara, as she lies naked and injured, again and again, and taunted and mocked by the Joker, who tells him that human existence is mad, random and pointless, and madness the appropriate response. Meanwhile Batman tries to find a lead on the Joker, but nobody knows anything. The Batsignal appears and Harvey Bullock gives Batman an invitation and entry ticket for the carnival that the Joker has sent to Batman. As Batman arrives at the carnival, he and the Joker grapple briefly with each other, but the Joker buys some time by spraying acid at Batman, and runs into the House of Fun. Batman frees James Gordon, who's been put in a cage outside. Gordon didn't go mad, and insists that the Joker must be brought in by the book, to prove to the Joker that their way works. The Joker tells Batman what he wanted to prove, that they are not different, that they both have been driven mad by one bad day, only that Batman refuses to admit to his madness, and insists on pretending that life makes sense when it does not. Batman replies that Gordon is as sane as ever, that not everybody cracks, so maybe it was the Joker himself all along. They fight, the Joker's gun is empty and he admits defeat, and asks Batman what he's waiting for. Batman explains that he doesn't want to hurt him, that he thinks that maybe tonight is the last chance for them to escape their suicide course. He offers to help him, to rehabilitate him but Joker says that it is too late for that. He says it reminds him of a joke, and he tells Batman a joke of two guys trying to escape a lunatic asylum, and though Batman is reluctant to laugh at first, in the end he cracks up too, and they stand together in the rain, laughing, as the police comes to pick up the Joker.
Intercut with the main story are flashbacks of Joker's memories, telling a possible origin story for the Joker: To get money for his wife and the baby they were expecting, the Joker agreed to lead two men from the Red Hood mob into the chemical plant where he used to work, before he gave up his job as a lab assistant to become a comedian. The same day the robbery is supposed to take place, his wife dies in a freak accident with a baby-bottle heater, but the mobsters insist that he still has to come along. They make him wear a red hood and cape, also to draw attention to him, instead of them, but the Joker doesn't realize this. The robbery in the chemical plant doesn't go as planned, because security procedures have been changed since then. Batman appears on the scene, confronting the Joker, because Batman thinks he's "Red Hood," the leader, not realizing that the mask is worn by different people. The joker flees, and jumps into a vat with chemicals to escape through some sewage system, but the chemicals transformed his face, skin and hair to his "Joker" appearance, seeing this he goes mad, and becomes obsessed with Batman.
Important Continuity Events:
- The Joker offers a possible origin story.
- The Joker shoots Barbara Gordon, the bullet hits her spine, this results in her paraplegia. [p. 14]
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
- Batman is convinced he and the Joker will end up killing each other. He wants to avert that outcome, to save or rehabilitate the Joker. [p. 5]
Barbara Gordon Character Details:
- Barbara worked at the library. [p. 13]
- Barbara had nightmares as a kid about the Joker, because her dad told her stories about him. [p.13]
- She has yoga classes with her friend Colleen. [p. 13]
James Gordon Character Details:
- James Gordon keeps scrapbooks for newspaper articles relating to Batman, Catwoman, and possibly other costumed heroes and villains. There are at least so many that Barbara thinks he needs a filing system. [p. 13]
Joker Character Details:
- Before he became the Joker he wanted to work as a stand-up comedian, but wasn't very successful. [p. 8]
- He and his wife Jeannie were expecting their first child. [p. 8]
- He felt he was a looser. [p. 9]
- Jeannie thought he was funny and good in bed. [p. 9]
- Joker was a lab assistant, but quit to be a comedian. [p. 16]
- To get money for his family he gets involved with crime, he agrees to get the others through the chemical plant where he used to work. [p. 16]
- The Red Hood gangsters ask him to wear a bow tie and a suit since it's their trade mark. [p. 23]
- His wife died as she was testing a baby-bottle heater. [p. 23]
- The Joker is disfigured as he jumps into a vat with chemicals while running from Batman, terrified by Batman's appearance. [p. 32]
- He goes mad seeing his disfigured face on top of loosing his wife, as he realizes what a black, awful joke the world was. [p. 33]
Note about the Joker origin story: The Joker himself says, he prefers to have multiple pasts and that he remembers different versions, so it isn't certain that his memories here are the "true" origin story. [p. 40]
Trivia:
- Harvey Dent's number in Arkham is 0751. [p. 3]
- The Joker's number in Arkham is 0801. [p. 3]
- Batman has a "family" photo in the Batcave, it shows Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred (?), another woman in a costume (she's ?), another man in a regular suit (he's ?), a dog, and a small child (or maybe a puppet ?) in a bat costume. [p. 11]
- The visible trophies in the Batcave are a dinosaur, the huge penny, and some penguin. A Bat-gyrocopter is also visible, it's suspended from the ceiling with a chain. [p. 11]
- The newspaper articles seen in Gordon's scrapbook are "Asylum Security Uproar. Maniac Escapes Again. Crimefighter Unavailable For Comment. Vicki Vale Exclusive" in the Gotham Examiner, for the current day incident, and one from the first time Batman encountered the Joker, saying "Bat-Garbed Vigilante Critically Injures Murderer. Disfigured Homicidal Maniac In Hospital" [p. 13]
- The Joker's gun has two barrels, one for the bullets, another one where a flag with "click click click" written on it comes out when the gun is empty. [p. 44]
Story: Batman: Year One, Chapter 4: Friend In Need (22 pages)
(previous part in Batman #406)
Writer(s): Frank Miller
Pencils: David Mazzucchelli
Inks: David Mazzucchelli
Characters:
Bruce Wayne / Batman, Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Lieutenant James Gordon (promoted to Captain)
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Barbara Gordon (James Gordon's wife), Sergeant Sarah Essen, Alfred Pennyworth, Jefferson Skeevers (narcotics dealer), Trish (news anchor), Tom (news anchor), Judge Rafferty (off-screen), Harvey Dent, Sergeant Merkel, Arnold Flass, Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, Agee (off-screen, from the Gotham Gazette), Holly, "Roman" Falcone, Johnny (Falcone's nephew), James Gordon, Jr. (son of James and Barbara Gordon, born in this story), Judge Norton, Joker (off-screen), Grogan (off-screen)
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
Continuity References:
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
Selina Kyle Character Details:
James Gordon Character Details:
Romances:
Trivia:
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]
Story: Batman: Year One, Chapter 1: Who Am I, How I Come To Be (22 pages)
(next part in Batman #405)
Writer(s): Frank Miller
Pencils: David Mazzucchelli
Inks: David Mazzucchelli
Characters:
Bruce Wayne (not as Batman yet), Lieutenant James Gordon, Selina Kyle (not as Catwoman yet), Arnold Flass, Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb
Minor Characters / Guest Appearances:
Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne (Bruce Wayne's parents, in flashback),Wilson, Stahnsen, Renny (detectives in the GCPD); Stan (a pimp), Holly, Stevie, Jackie, Tom
Synopsis:
Important Continuity Events:
Continuity References:
Bruce Wayne Character Details:
Selina Kyle Character Details:
James Gordon Character Details:
Romances:
Trivia:
[Note: This entry is based on the TPB edition of the issue.]
[Note: This entry is still incomplete, more information will be added eventually.]